


Restless

by Laventriloque



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, BAMF Louis Tomlinson, Bodyguard, Bodyguard Louis Tomlinson, Bodyguard Romance, Fame, Famous Harry, Insomnia, Loneliness, Lonely Louis Tomlinson, M/M, Overprotective, Overprotective Louis Tomlinson, Panic Attacks, Protective Louis Tomlinson, Protectiveness, Rejection, Workaholic Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik & Louis Tomlinson Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:48:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29273475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laventriloque/pseuds/Laventriloque
Summary: Bodyguard Louis Tomlinson is a workaholic and he's fine with it. He loves tea, waking up before the sun and losing himself in the protection of his clients. Sure, jumping from client to client, adopting their schedule and prioritising their safety above all else can get lonely, but Louis has long since accepted it.Everything changes when a curly headed, charming and rising pop start hires him.**Updates every Monday EDT**
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 12
Kudos: 36





	1. Overkill

**Author's Note:**

> New Story!! I'm so excited to share this with you! I hope you'll enjoy it <3

Morning fog covers the dirt path like a cold blanket. A pale orange hue in the horizon, hint of a stammering sunrise, contrasts with a dark blue enveloping the rest of the sky. The rhythmic sounds of Louis’s tennis shoes hitting the ground at an even pace blend with the occasional chirp of a bird or squeak of a squirrel hidden in the trees creating a familiar morning chorus. Although the spring air retains its winter crisp, raising goosebumps on Louis’s bare arms, there is no breeze. Everything sits still as Louis runs unhurriedly, breaths creating regular bursts of mist in front of him.

The path is void of any other runners. Louis revels in the serenity of the solitude. Too soon, he reaches the end of his usual itinerary. He doesn’t enter his car just yet, allowing himself to catch his breath and observe the empty parking lot marking the entrance of the trail, marveling in its emptiness. He loves this moment of the day, feeling like he is the only living human on the planet, like he has the whole world to himself. Sitting on the hood of his old car, Louis closes his eyes and breathes in, grounding himself, acknowledging the heated muscles of his legs, his expanding lungs, the alignment of his spine. He’s taken back to his first mindfulness lessons with Master Sanfeng. At the time, Louis had called it “mindful crap.” The memory of the old man’s stick cracking on the top of his head in response makes him smirk. He exhales slowly and opens his eyes again before getting in his car. The clock reads 6:30. The traffic is almost nonexistent as he makes his way back into the city, another reason to appreciate early morning runs. He drives silently for the twenty-minute drive as he always does, going over his plans for the day or rather trying to come up with plans…

Louis was relieved to find his apartment in relatively good condition two days ago as he’d left it unattended for six months while working on his last job. As expected, a layer of dust obscured every flat surface and there was an overwhelming pile of junk mail overflowing the mailbox but there were no signs of break-ins and everything still worked fine, to his surprise. He usually tries to tend to his apartment once every other week when he works, but his last job had been too far away, and Louis hadn’t bothered. It had resulted in two days straight deep cleaning every inch of his small condo. It had paid off, however; the residual smell of cleaner in the air, the immaculate shining floor, the spotless windows letting in every ray of sunshine, all evidence of his hard work. Now that he’d done all the cleaning he could possibly have thought of, he didn’t know what to do with himself. Zayn had advised him to take time off before the next client, but it had been so long since Louis had done that, the concept now seemed foreign.

Once he gets inside, Louis goes through a few Aikido routines on his balcony overlooking the slowly waking streets. It’s 8:30 when he finally sits at the kitchen counter, freshly showered, with a cup of black tea and a mildly burnt piece of toast. He never _could_ figure out the right setting for that damn toaster. He coats it with an unhealthy layer of butter hoping it won’t taste as bad as it looks.

His old but sturdy computer grunts in protest as it boots up while Louis savors his frugal breakfast patiently. Skimming through his inbox, Louis discards most of the offers; a B-list celebrity Louis vaguely remembers from some terrible film, who doesn’t need protection, but probably wants to make a statement on their social status; the chairman of BT who only needs extra security for specific events; potential clients referred to him from his last employer; high-profile white-collar types offering stable but boring jobs. _Nothing appealing so far_ , he thinks. He’s about to fix himself a second cup of tea when his phone rings.

“Zayn, what’s up?”

“Hey Lou! How’s the vacation going?”

Feeling caught red-handed, Louis quickly closes his laptop screen as if Zayn saw it through the phone.

“It’s all right.” Louis cringes at the uncertainty in his tone.

Zayn laughs, “Yeah, sure. You’re a shit liar mate. I bet you’re already looking for your next job.”

Louis huffs, not even willing to deny it. “Yeah, well… I’m bored.”

“You’ve only gotten off work three days ago!”

Louis rolls his eyes and doesn’t gratify Zayn with a response mostly because, deep down, he knows Zayn’s right.

“You’re unbelievable,” Zayn concludes after a beat of silence.

Louis shrugs even though Zayn can’t see him. He doesn’t deny it. They both know Louis’ a workaholic and Louis frankly doesn’t see the problem in that. He gets up and fills his kettle with water as he waits for Zayn to get to the point.

“Anyway,” Zayn continues, “I was kind of counting on your…restlessness to be honest. I might have a job for you if you want it.”

“Oh? Is it — “

“24/7?” Zayn interrupts, a smile in his voice, knowing Louis doesn’t take any other kind of job. “Yeah, it is. It pays decent, and I’ve met the employer through my boyfriend, he’s a good lad.”

Louis puts the kettle on the burner.

“If Liam knows him, then why don’t you take care of it yourself?”

“I’m way too busy with HSBC’s security already.”

Louis hums, remembering Zayn’s rants about the chairman being a prick. He gets a tea bag from his stash and puts it in his empty cup.

“All right, I’m listening. So, Liam’s his agent I’m guessing?”

 _A musician would be a nice change of pace_ , Louis thinks as he takes the milk out of the fridge.

“Yeah. Singer, song writer. He’s been doing this for a while with mild success, but it picked up quite suddenly with some YouTube video a year ago. That’s when he hired Li. Apparently, things are getting a little out of hand and Harry needs help security-wise. He doesn’t have any security yet.”

Louis ponders as he waits for the water to boil. No security means starting from the ground up. _Recently_ popular also means _increasingly_ popular. By the looks of things, this could represent a fairly good challenge. Louis smiles.

“Set up a meeting, will you?”

<>

There’s a quiet buzz behind the reception desk. Like an anthill, people in professional clothing stride in all directions, talk on the phone, power walk from one office to the other. Unable to shake his job habits, Louis’ eyes dart over the quieter lobby area where he stands. There’s a teenager waiting in a chair, leg bouncing up and down nervously, a calmer man dressed in a suit sitting beside him, a woman in an austere dress leaning on a further wall. The receptionist, a woman in her forties Louis would guess, types quickly on a keyboard, head tilted down, eyes peeking from above her glasses. She lifts her head when Louis approaches with a smile that makes her look 10 years younger.

“How can I help you?”

“I’m Louis Tomlinson, I have a meeting with Mr. Payne at 9.”

The woman glances at her computer and two mouse clicks later, nods.

“You’re right on time.” She says, smile unfaltering. Louis acquiesces; he’s always on time.

With the ease of someone who’s done the movement countless times before, the secretary dials a series of numbers quickly and brings the handset to her ear. Louis turns sideways to have a better view of the lobby. The teenager is fiddling with his phone and the woman has taken a seat. The other man hasn’t moved. Someone’s pushing the entrance doors.

“Good morning Mr. Payne, I have Louis Tomlinson in the lobby for you.” The receptionist says has he eyes the man entering in hurried steps. He’s holding a coffee cup and wears a suit that, no doubt, has seen better days. The newcomer acknowledges the receptionist with a quick hand wave. She nods back as he walks towards the elevators. _Works here_ , _probably late,_ Louis notes to himself, absentmindedly. 

“I’ll send him up.”

Louis turns his attention back to the receptionist as she hangs up.

“Mr. Payne is ready for you. His office is on the ninth floor.”

“Thank you.” Louis quickly scans the lobby again before making his way to the elevators.

<>

“Aikido, Jiu-Jitsu, Wing Chun… what even is Wing Chun?”

“I don’t know, some type of martial art?”

“Isn’t this all a bit… overkill, Li?”

Louis halts, knuckles halfway raised to the door.

Someone – Liam, Louis guesses – sighs heavily. “Harry, we’ve been over this. Just meet with the guy, yeah? I don’t think Zayn has praised someone that much before. I have no doubt he’s more than adequate.”

Louis rolls his eyes. Of course, Zayn would oversell his skills.

“I’m sure he is, Li,” Harry argues, “I’m just saying I don’t _need_ a bodyguard, no matter how good he is. I’ve been doing this for a while and I’ve never needed one before.”

Louis frowns. Reluctant clients always make the job more difficult. Conveniently, Zayn had left that part out when they talked on the phone.

“Sure, sure. And you’ve also never been mobbed in a grocery store before, have you?”

A pause during which Louis almost knocks, but then…

“I— You—well… no. But that’s—I mean… it was...” Harry trails off.

Louis fights a smile, finding the pop star’s stutter endearing. _What?_

“24/7, though?” Harry finally asks, in a small voice.

“Oh, excuse me, would you prefer to call him every time you want to get out of the house instead? I’m sure it would be way more convenient for everyone involved.”

“I hate you,” Harry murmurs so low, Louis barely hears it.

“Love you too Haz’”, Liam responds.

Louis takes a deep breath, straightens his posture and finally knocks.

“Come in!” Liam invites with a booming voice.

When Louis opens the door, Harry sits up straighter and turns around in his chair to look at the bodyguard. Taking Louis in, he cocks his head to the side and frowns. Louis’ not surprised. After reading his resume, people always seem to expect some tall, muscular guy.

“Yes?” Harry asks, obviously not convinced Louis is the person they were just talking about. Louis grins, entering the room fully.

“Hi, I’m Louis Tomlinson.” He says, extending a hand to a now standing Liam.

“Hi Louis, nice to meet you. I’m Liam and this is Harry.” Liam shakes his hand, unphased by Louis’ small stature and points to the chair next to Harry, “Have a seat.”

Harry recovers from his earlier confusion and takes Louis’ offered hand with a soft, “Nice to meet you.”

“Pleasure to meet you, sir.” Louis answers as he sits with the straight posture master Sanfeng engrained in him a long time ago.

“So, Louis, I’ve heard your praises through Zayn a lot, I’m surprised we haven’t had the chance to meet yet.”

Louis isn’t surprised and he suspects Liam isn’t either. Although they keep in touch, Louis hasn’t seen Zayn in months, maybe a year. If it weren’t or Zayn calling him once in a while, they probably would have drifted away as years went by. Louis has never been very good at keeping up with friends. Zayn, though, has always been a constant, never bothered by Louis’ long period of radio silence.

He smiles politely feeling Harry’s fixated gaze on him, gaging him in his peripheral vision. Undeterred, Louis answers Liam.

“I’m happy we’re finally meeting. I’m sure we’ll all get together some time soon.” They probably won’t, especially if Louis takes the job, but Louis isn’t rude.

“I heard you had some security issues?” He asks, preferring to cut the small talk.

Harry is still giving him an unabashed once-over from the seat beside him, frowning.

“Yes.” Liam answers promptly, “Harry has a new album coming out in a week and his popularity has increased dramatically since the last one. To a point where he attracts a little too much attention when he goes out in public. I had to rescue him from a mob a few days ago. It was a little scary…”

Then, seemingly just as confused by Harry’s silence as Louis is, Liam turns to the latter, “Right Harry?”

Harry blinks a few times as if taken out of deep thoughts and finally tears his eyes away from Louis to look at Liam.

“Huh?” Harry says, eloquently.

Louis arches an eyebrow, taking in Harry’s appearance a little more. The man looks exhausted, dark circles under his eyes and disheveled hair, fidgeting with his rings while he blushes, apparently embarrassed that he zoned out. There’s something undeniably charismatic about the man even in a visibly tired state, an effortless presence, an underlying easy self-assurance that’s captivating.

“I was bringing Louis up to date and telling him about the grocery store incident the other day.” Liam explains, worry in his eyes.

“Oh right, yeah. That was… weird.” Harry drawls. The slow pacing of Harry’s speech is just as effortlessly charming as the rest of him. _Damn, Louis needs to get a grip._

“Scary.” Liam corrects.

Harry shrugs, but the way he’s looking down at his fidgeting hands is confirmation enough that the pop star had found the experience at least a little scary.

Louis nods in understanding, “Sounds like you’re in dire need of heightened security.” 

Liam opens his arms and looks at Harry as if to say, ‘I told you so.’ Harry frowns. Louis can feel the reticence coming off of him in waves. From what Louis gathered eavesdropping moments ago and Harry’s whole demeanor, he knows he has his work cut out for him. He won’t take the job unless the pop star gets more comfortable with the idea of a 24/7 bodyguard. If he’s learned anything throughout the years is it’s useless to protect someone who doesn’t want to be protected in the first place.

Louis keeps his professional front but uses a gentler tone and focuses his attention on Harry, hoping to break down his reserves, “If you hired me as your bodyguard, I would build a security plan for you, make sure your house is secure as well as your transportation. I’ll be able to scope the places you’re going to in advance, spot the exits and plan ways to get you out of a location safely if need be.”

“Right…” Harry drawls crossing his arms. “Look…” Harry continues, hesitant, “I feel like a dick for asking, but… are you sure you can like… I mean you’re kind of… on the smaller side.”

As Harry cringes, clearly worried he insulted the man, Louis smiles patiently. He’s used to answering that particular question.

“I’m trained to use the opponent’s strength against them, so I don’t need to be big and scary to protect you. Also, a _good_ bodyguard shouldn’t need to use force. Ever. Our job is to avoid dangerous situations altogether, so if I have to pull out my gun or my fists, I’ve already failed. Besides, I blend in quite well which makes my job infinitely easier. Being underestimated or simply dismissed gives me the upper hand.”

Harry nods, doubts evaporating from his gaze as he uncrosses his arms.

Louis sits back in his chair and concludes,

“And if you still have doubts about my capabilities, I’ll be happy to give you references to my past clients.”

Just one look at Liam and Louis knows he’s got the job. He’s relieved to see Harry look less hesitant as well. It’s a start.


	2. Dangerously Curious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you had a pleasant Monday, as all Mondays should be. -Xx

The relative modesty of Harry’s flat surprises Louis. He’d googled the pop star after their meeting and realized how out of the loop Louis was to anything pop culture related. In a little over a year, the pop star had accumulated millions of followers on social media, an impressive number of awards and a myriad of top charted songs. Louis had listened to some of them and he was forced to admit that they were good. Really good. If Louis ever listened to music, he would be happy to listen to Harry’s talented voice on the regular.

With so much success, Louis had expected a big luxurious house not a modest two bedroom flat in center London. Although those could be expensive as well, they certainly weren’t as flamboyant. Louis fears his job will be harder than he thought when someone coming out of the building holds the usually locked door opened for him. If every tenant in the building is so careless, it would be incredibly easy to get to Harry. Thankfully, there is a second locked door which reassures Louis a bit, but not much. He pushes the code for Harry’s flat and when Harry buzzes him in without using the intercom, Louis rolls his eyes and groans. He has work to do.

When Louis arrives at the door, he decides to test how careless Harry is. He hides away from the peephole and checks the type of lock on the door handle; extremely simple and easy to pick. Of course. Then, Louis knocks, still hidden from the peephole, leaning on the wall beside it. The door opens without Louis hearing the usual unlocking sounds on the other end. Which means the door was unlocked and Harry either didn’t look into the peephole or didn’t care that he saw no one. _Fantastic._ He facepalms when Harry literally gets out of the apartment, rendering himself completely vulnerable in favor of looking for his guest. When Harry spots Louis, he smiles, somehow frowning in confusion at the same time. Louis responds with an exasperated look.

“We need to go over basic security rules as soon as possible.” Louis says, voice stern. Harry’s frown deepens and the smile fades.

“Hum, hi Louis. Come on in.”

Harry steps to the side, leaving space for Louis to enter. Louis pushes himself off the wall and gets in, duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

Once inside Louis notices the delicious smell coming from the kitchen.

“Make yourself comfortable. I just need to finish up in the kitchen real quick.” Harry says before going back to the stove to stir something in a pot.

Louis takes in the open-plan apartment. It’s humble, but gorgeous; floor to ceiling windows letting in every ray of the midday sun the London clouds will allow, a big balcony running along the whole living area, overlooking the city through a pleasant screen of trees. It’s decorated with taste, none of the luxurious crap Louis has come to despise from his rich clients. It’s cute and cozy and it’s probably the first one of his client’s home he’ll enjoy living in.

Louis lets his heavy duffel bag thump on the floor before sitting, back straight, on the edge of an armchair in the living room. The open plan gives him a good view of Harry’s back as he stirs and executes cooking things that Louis doesn’t begin to try to understand.

“Are you hungry?” Harry asks over his shoulder.

Harry doesn’t wait for an answer before grabbing two plates from a cupboard and plating them.

“I made spaghetti; I hope you like it.”

Louis’ mouth waters at the thought of a home-cooked meal. He used a separate kitchen with his last client and all Louis’ skills in the kitchen only go as far as burnt toasts and burnt grilled cheeses. The only time he ate decently was when his last client went to fancy events or to high hand restaurants.

“It smells great.” Louis says, honestly.

“So basic rules you say?” Harry asks as he sets the plates on the dining table. “I’ll show you to the guest room after we eat if that’s all right?”

“Sure.” Louis joins Harry at the small round dining table.

“Rules can wait until after I’m settled in, but I don’t want to wait too long. Your security is shit.” Louis says curtly, ignoring Harry’s annoyed huff and takes a bite of the best thing he’s eaten in months. He can’t stop a small moan from escaping his lips and he blushes in embarrassment.

“Good?” Harry smirks knowingly.

“Yeah, s’good. Thank you.”

As they eat, Louis starts compiling information about his client as he would any other. They make small talk in which he discovers a few facts.

  1. Harry is just as tired as a week ago, during Louis’ interview.
  2. Harry is anxious and jumpy. This might be a result of fact number 1, but Louis isn’t convinced.
  3. Harry is irritated when Louis refuses to call him by his first name.
  4. Harry is dangerously curious and asks personal questions relentlessly, questions Louis has to deflect resulting in clear frustration on Harry’s part.



“I saw on your resume that you only had 24/7 jobs like this one in the past. Why is that?”

Louis swallows the last bite of his meal, tastebuds longing for more and puts down his fork.

“This was amazing Mr. Styles, thank you.”

Harry frowns and sighs, “Please call me Harry and you’re welcome.”

Louis takes their plates to the sink, ignoring Harry’s protests.

“You cooked. The least I can do is clean up.”

Harry lets him load the dishwasher before speaking, “Let me give you a proper tour of the flat and show you your room.”

The tour doesn’t take very long, Harry’s apartment being mostly an open space floor with two closed bedrooms and a decent-sized bathroom. Harry shows him the guest room last and leaves him to unpack. The room is small but charming, with a fluffy carpet, a comfortable-looking double bed and a big window. It’s more than a change of pace from his last client where he had a whole living quarter to himself. Louis secretly loves it.

<>

He’s setting up the camera feed on his computer when Harry enters his peripheral vision, leaning on the doorframe, arms casually folded over his chest. Louis had spent a good portion of the afternoon setting up cameras in Harry’s building to the latter’s obvious exasperation. Harry had made it quite clear how unnecessary he thought this whole bodyguard deal was and Louis had made a point to disregard his employer’s opinion.

Louis doesn’t acknowledge the pop star’s presence, concentrating on his job, hoping Harry will deem it boring enough to move on. Unfortunately, it seems like Harry’s content enough to observe him with the same blatant curiosity he had during the interview with Liam.

“I googled you.” The statement sounds like an accusation, but Louis can see the blatant curiosity behind Harry’s gaze. He immediately tenses, going through anything Harry could have found related to his name. There isn’t much. For all Louis knows, he has no presence on the internet. He has an e-mail for work and that’s pretty much it.

The glint in Harry’s eyes worries him. He has a feeling Harry managed to find something. He turns back to his computer screen, executing the software as he’s done so many times for his past clients.

“Oh?” Louis says feigning nonchalance as best he can, probably not succeeding very well.

“Did you find anything interesting?” Louis asks, teetering close to breaking his own number one rule: avoid any kind of personal conversation with his clients. He’s not here to make friends with them but to protect them. Professionalism in his field is paramount. If Louis becomes too approachable, a client might feel comfortable asking him to do trivial things that aren’t at all in his job description and next thing he knows he’s walking their dog or picking up their dry-cleaning. Louis can’t protect anyone if he’s preoccupied with trivial tasks.

“I did actually.” Harry answers, “I found a rather fascinating news article about you.”

Louis groans. He knows of this article. He’d tried to get it removed to no avail.

“Yeah,” Harry continues, “it was titled something like… _Bodyguard Louis Tomlinson prevents mass shooting during…_ some kind of event… I don’t remember actually.”

“Charity event. And it was a kidnapping attempt.” _Why is Louis humoring personal questions?_ He’s never had a problem deflecting them in the past.

“Why don’t you put that on your resume? I mean if I had stopped a kidnapping, I wouldn’t shut up about it.”

Louis rolls his eyes. Of course, a celebrity like Harry would think of fame first.

“The media made it look bigger than it was. I saw a spotlight reflect on the firearm and reacted accordingly. I did my job.”

“You saved lives.”

Louis gives Harry a leveled look.

“ _That’s_ my job.”

Louis turns back to his screen feeling Harry calculating gaze on him.

“If my math is correct, it was your first client too.”

“Yeah.”

To Louis’ surprise, Harry shakes his head and laughs looking at the ground. Louis lifts an eyebrow, head turning towards Harry again.

“What?” Louis asks, not unkindly.

Harry shrugs, “I’m impressed is all. You don’t look like much…” Harry’s head snaps up, eyes wide, “I mean, not that… I mean, you’re gorgeous, it’s not – wait, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just saying… I’m sorry.”

Louis tries to retain his laughter to no avail. He’s appalled by the fondness bubbling in his chest for the pop star. This client’s cuteness will be the death of him.

“I get what you mean Mr. Styles. It’s fine.”

Harry groans, “I wish you’d stop calling me that.”

“We can’t always get what we wish for Mr. Styles.”

Harry rolls his eyes before sauntering off. Louis lets out a sigh of relief. It’s not even been 24 hours and he’s divulged more information about his personal life to Harry than he has any of his past clients. This is going to be a problem, isn’t it?

**Author's Note:**

> Updates every Monday <3


End file.
